Our students get to learn advanced skills in all the outdoor activities we do. In rock climbing, TAASC students learn the basic skills like knots, harnesses, belaying and climbing techniques. These are required for a safe day on the rock, but there is so much more to learn about climbing, which we teach.

Our students learn how to build a climbing anchor so that it is both super safe and redundant. Doing this develops judgement and an ability to think things through. These are key skills that can be applied in other areas of life. They help connect detailed focus with overall big picture thinking and even more importantly help foster a real feeling of responsibility.

TAASC is able to do pull this off due the experience of our staff working for programs like Outward Bound, as well as their personal experience with these activities. Learning more advanced things makes it so much more fun and interesting for our students and inspires them to really get into it more. This could even influence a person’s career choice – I know of people who have been so interested in learning wilderness first aid that they eventually went to medical school!

Other examples of advanced skills we teach are: technical rescue skills; advanced wilderness first aid skills; paddling whitewater; navigational skills and many other outdoor tricks of the trade. Overall from a personal development standpoint I believe exposing younger students to these skills helps develop their judgement skills by adding a new layer of responsibility and reliability. All these qualities are going to help make a difference in a students life as they transition into adulthood.

This summer we did something completely different and went Urban for a few days. The funny thing was that we were as uncomfortable and out of our ‘zone’ in this setting as regular city folk are when the go into the wilderness. So although we took some strain with navigating our way through this environment, it still had the same adventure elements that we so love to experience.

For this trip we got to explore around Washington D.C which is such an interesting and crazy city to visit. We stayed at a campground within subway striking distance from downtown. Usually when we start a wilderness expedition the team knows what they need and how to make it all happen – from navigation to getting water and simple things like using the woods if you need to go. But in the city this all changed. Suddenly we got stressed out trying to figure out buying subway tokens or passes and where to get on or off and which line do we take. On our first time in we actually lost 2 team mates who didn’t get off the train in time. So wow – they just disappeared into the darkness of the train tunnel and were gone! We reconnected thanks to the marvel of technology and our phones became a major tool for figuring out this entire environment. We could navigate with them, find each other with them, find places we needed to go, get information about anything we were looking at, and the list goes on. Smart phones are way more useful in the city!

Highlights of our expedition were:

A tour of the Capitol Building – very impressive with so much to see and do, plus the air conditioning was worth the entire visit as was their restaurant!

Getting to see the White House – for some of us this was our first time seeing this famous house and it’s always exciting to be right there.

Exploring the many world class museums and monuments of DC

Getting a feel for our nations capitol city and what it’s like to be there.

Travelling with a group of teenagers is also super interesting and I wanted to include a list of the best ‘Travel Hacks’ I discovered travelling with this lot:

Using Uber taxis to get around downtown and between sights

Travelling ultra-light in the city (no backpacks or extra gear) and using Starbucks for free ice-water and a/c (again)

Using google maps to navigate the city as a pedestrian – it’s a game changer and so fun. We found the app even zooms into museums and then you can navigate their too on your phone.

Using Barnes and Noble bookstores to get out of the rain and simultaneously re-charge your smart phone.

Our weekly meetings are all about getting kids up and at it – ACTION! There really is no better way to learn than to do and at TAASC meetings we get real with some exciting activities. The goal is to introduce students to new skills and experiences in a gentle, non-intimidating way. This way students get that initial experience under their belt and by the time we get out on a weekend adventure trip, they’re ready. They know how to do most of the things they need to do to stay warm, dry and comfortable.

Some students take longer than others to get comfortable with something like climbing or being up high. Meetings are a perfect environment for that student to baby-step their way towards confidence with that activity. We teach kids how to prussik up a fixed line and once they get the hang of it – they get to decide how high and far they want to go. It’s a great activity to develop individual skills, confidence and empowerment. And at the same time they’re doing something totally cool and exhilarating going 40 ft up into a tree!

TAASC students get the opportunity to work with other students as mentors and leaders. They teach skills and pass on the knowledge they have. The younger students really look up to these older students and as we all know, kids will listen and be influenced by other kids. In this case this is a super positive mentor and great role-model for the younger students to follow and emulate.

Our students are learning how to become outdoor instructors. We teach students that are ready how to facilitate groups, identity goals and roles and overall create high functioning expedition teams.

How cool is it to have students leading students! This is just another layer of the deep experience available to kids at TAASC.

Summer was entirely spent with a paddle in hand. The Older Group stepped up into a totally new environment and adventure taking on the NC Outer Banks in sea-kayaks! The Younger Group took on the classic New River expedition in fine style.

This was our first ever TAASC adventure to the Outer Banks and for those of you who have never been there let’s just say, “‘It’s not for sissies!” The group learned a whole new skill set in terms of paddling and living out of an ocean going sea-kayak. It gets technical whenever you’re facing the ocean and we had a whole range of challenges to navigate. Bugs, hot sun, saltwater, wet gear, and fierce wind’s coming right as us from the south west – these created some exciting seas and we had to dig deep to make it across some of the crossings as we island hopped our way south towards Cape Lookout Island. From there we spent a day relaxing and exploring the Lighthouse area and then we spent the next few days paddling north along the Core Banks. The students really stepped up to the challenges and had to work hard as a group to succeed. This group has a natural way of sharing leadership and so depending on the energy, fatigue and situation, someone always stepped into that space to provide inspiration, direction and motivation to get ‘er done!

The Younger Group similarly had to work hard to successfully make it down the almost 50 miles of river. This section of the New River features several exciting class 2 rapids and there’s long sections of beautiful wilderness. This group specializes in having fun though, and I think someone worked out that we ran about 40 miles over the duration of the trip playing capture the flag! All expeditions develop a unique flow and this one was wonderful. Each day we’d wake up, cook breakfast and load up the boats and paddle down the river. The simple life at it’s best! These kids had to work for it though, as the list of important chores and gear to take of takes most of the time.

These summer trips are pure gold in terms of accelerating the development of a child (or adult too!). The continued practice at taking care of their gear, learning how to pack and unpack, manage their food ration, cook and clean up, set up and maintain campsite and of course all the skills needed to navigate the river and stay dry! Leadership is inevitable for these young folks. No matter what level they are at in terms of personal development and skills, they all reach the place of being able to help a member of their crew out and look after each other!

In TAASC we focus a lot on teaching students rescue skills. These are all important skills to have in the outdoors and they transfer to increasing student responsibility in general. When you’ve experienced how difficult it can be to perform a vertical rescue, it makes you realize how important it is to learn the necessary skills to stay safe and not get into a situation like that in the first place.

With this rescue workshop, our older group got to perform a vertical rescue and sent one of their own off the upstairs balcony in the TAASC climbing gym. About as technical as it gets! The group was divided into different teams and had specific roles to ensure all was safe and correct! There were a lot of technical skills to learn, which really bumps up students’ general rope management, climbing skills and overall systems thinking. It’s like doing a giant puzzle except it’s real and you’ve got to work in teams, communicate and create a system to safely transport someone.

These folks did an awesome job! Look forward to getting outside and practicing this on a real rock face. Creating a rescue squad for the future!

With this cold winter it’s been tricky being outside, so it’s been great to help out with a service project and stay warm inside. TAASC students have been helping out at Care Partners here in Asheville for several years. This year we got to help deep-clean their whole day care area and then play really fun games with some of the residents. Many of the folks staying there are in their 90’s and they schooled their younger opponents in a competitive game of “Table Ball”.

It’s so important for young people to spend time around older generations. The gift they give these folks just by being there is priceless and it’s awesome to see how easily these generations can connect and get along! These students left with a whole new perspective.